The MPs' report which lambasted the chief medical officer for his role in the debacle over the Medical Training Application Service (MTAS) is filled with appropriate comments. The repeated use of the phrase "serious error" just about sums up MTAS.

There is no doubt that the MTAS scheme (website currently closed), and the idea of streamlining all speciality training by giving "run-through" posts to inexperienced doctors was ill conceived. However, it certainly didn't require a panel of MPs and much deliberation to retrospectively find the flaws. I and many of my colleagues spotted these potential problems instantly but as usual with these grand plans those who are to be affected are not consulted.

Now that the dust has settled to a certain extent, there are still many excellent doctors that have found themselves in a career no-man's land, unsure if they will ever get a post in the speciality they desire. In previous years trainees may have struggled to find posts but they would not have their career aspirations cut short by a poorly thought-out scheme streamlining education at an inappropriate time in doctors' training. Instead, doctors would persevere with job applications until they succeeded or decided to change direction. While some may argue this might spare trainees agony, others could argue it is better the doctors are allowed to come to these "decisions" themselves. Whichever argument you support it cannot be good that many doctors feel they are in dead-end posts due to an unfair recruiting process.

So should Liam Donaldson be out of a job? It is hard to see how a simple apology can be sufficient to alleviate all anxiety and pain that had been caused by the system. I am not sure that Donaldson should take all the blame. While the Royal Colleges eventually took a stance against the ridiculousness of the MTAS system, they were slow to react. Let us not forget that the then BMA chairman, Jim Johnson, ended up resigning, having supported further use of the disintegrating MTAS system. His argument at the time was that he was just reiterating BMA policy. Part of the problem may be that those responsible for making policies are out of touch with what the real world is like.

However, I don't feel that all the blame can be laid upon these organisations. It was very noticeable that many senior consultants saw that this debacle was in the offing and instead of doing everything in their power to put an early stop to it, shied away as they did not want to be associated with what they knew was a flawed system. In the end it took a group of consultants in the West Midlands to make a stand, refusing to interview as they felt the recruitment system was shambolic and not fit for purpose.

There are too many people to share part of the blame for this terrible system, and it is worrying that the poorly thought-out system was able to find its way through so many potential checks.